Maybe I Was Mistaken
by theindigoprince
Summary: Eridan starts his school year at a new high school, where he barely knows anyone apart from his best friend Feferi. However, soon he meets Sollux Captor, an old rival of his whom he hates and envies and who eventually makes things much harder for Eridan, as if they weren't hard enough already. Events happen which make Eridan reconsider his feelings. EriSol, SolFef, Humanstuck.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, I just wanted to say that this is my first published fanfic. I hope you'll enjoy reading.**

Chapter 1

Eridan stopped walking and looked at the big building in front of him. This was his first day at his new school and he was nervous. Actually more than nervous, his anxiety was kicking in when he thought of all the new people he would have to meet and how they would stare at him, just like everyone else. On top of that, it was a hot and sunny day, not exactly suitable for wearing long sleeves and jeans but he still did. He wiped his sweaty palms on his striped jeans and looked at the girl next to him. Her wide smile calmed him a little and the girl took his hand and pulled him inside the school. Eridan was used to this, being pulled everywhere by the excited girl, who was also his best friend and had been ever since they were kids.

They entered the hall. Cool air flowed in his face when the girl pushed the door open, and Eridan sighed, feeling a little better now that he got inside, away from the hot, burning sun. He looked at her long dark brown hair bouncing on her shoulders as she eagerly pulled him forward. There weren't that many people in the hall but the few glanced at them and Eridan saw a girl poking her friend and pointing at his direction. Eridan winced and looked away, feeling his cheeks flush. He looked at his friend again. He knew they didn't share many classes because they weren't classmates. He thought of asking the girl to show him the class he was supposed to go to, though he believed that the girl would've done it anyway.  
"Hey, Fef-", he muttered.

"Yes?" the girl turned around and smiled at him.

"Could you showw me the history class?" he asked.

"Of course, that's where I was taking you!" Feferi said and giggled. "What's your next class after history?"

"Wwait, I'll check", Eridan said and they stopped. He pulled the schedule from his bag with shaky hands and checked the next class, which was biology. He informed Feferi and the girl smiled and nodded.

"It's close to the history class so it shouldn't be hard to find", she said. "Come on, let's go!"

They walked across the hall and up the stairs. In the second floor they turned left and soon they stopped in front of an open door.

"So! Here we are. Biology class is right that way, you'll find it by yourself", Feferi said and smiled. "I need to get going, call me if you need anything!"

"Yeah, thanks Fef", Eridan said and gave the shorter girl a quick hug before she hurried to her class, waving at him as she left.

Eridan sighed and ran his fingers through his brown hair. He entered the classroom, quickly walking to the back and sitting in the corner. He set his bag next to the desk and pulled out his history book, then took a quick look at the classroom. It wasn't that big and there were only a few people. A girl and a boy were sitting in the front and the girl was excitedly explaining something to the boy. The boy nodded once in a while and threw a few comments, but it looked like the girl didn't really give him time to speak. The girl was a very small, skinny and cute and had short light brown hair and a hat with cat ears. The boy was tall and muscular, his hair was shoulder length and black. He was wearing sunglasses, even though he didn't really need them. Eridan looked to the other side of the room and saw two girls, other with short, dark reddish brown hair and glasses with red pointy lenses. Eridan recognized her as Terezi, a weird girl who was obsessed with law and justice and wished to become a lawyer one day. Eridan didn't know the other girl, she had long, black hair with a tint of blue and she wore blue lipstick. It sounded like they were arguing about something but Eridan didn't really pay attention to it and looked away. There was one more girl in the room, she sat in the back in the other corner. She had long, curly blonde hair and bright red lipstick. She was curvy and wore a red tank top, showing her beautiful body shape and she had a black bow in her hair. Eridan looked at her and as the girl turned her head, he recognized her as Aradia – a girl he had known back in middle school and one of the few he could have called his friend. The girl seemed to notice Eridan and she smiled. Eridan smiled too and waved, and she got up and walked to him.

"Hello Ampora", she greeted. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Yeah I knoww, I livved somewwhere else for a wwhile but I'm back noww", Eridan said. "Good to see you Aradia."

"You too! How have you been?" she asked and sat down on the chair next to him.

Eridan grimaced and bit his lip, thinking for a moment before he answered. "I'vve been fine", he lied. "Howw about you?"

Aradia looked concerned. "You don't look fine", she said cautiously.

"Thanks", Eridan said and sneered.

"No, I don't mean –", Aradia stopped and huffed. "Is everything okay? Did something happen?"

"No, it's nothin'", Eridan said and gave her a faint smile. "I'm fine, really."

She still looked a bit worried. "Um, okay."

It was silent for a moment until Eridan broke it. "Wwhat about you?"

"What?"

"Howw havve you been?"

"Oh! I've been fine", she said and smiled.

"That's good."

The bell rang, informing them that the class was about to start. Aradia got up.

"I'll go back to sit now, I hope you'll have a good first day at your new school", she said and walked to her desk.

"Yeah I hope so too", Eridan muttered to himself and frowned.

He lifted his head to look at the door when the students started walking in. He recognized a few of them but most of them were strangers to him. He saw Tavros, a short boy with a fluffy black mohawk and a wide smile. He was known to claim to be confident, but everyone knew he was actually pretty shy. He was walking with a tall boy that Eridan didn't know. The boy had blonde hair and Eridan could swear he was attractive even though his sunglasses covered his eyes. What was with everyone wearing sunglasses inside?

The other students sat down, leaving empty desks around Eridan. He sighed and lowered his head, feeling some of the youngsters watching him.

"Who is that? I haven't seen him before", he heard a girl whispering to her friend.

Her friend giggled. "Me neither, but I think he's kinda attractive", she whispered back.

Eridan's heart jumped and his cheeks flushed. Did she just call him attractive? He felt a little better after hearing that, until he heard the other girl's answer.

"Really, that guy? Look at that stupid blonde stripe in his hair and those fake hipster glasses! Come on, he's probably gay", the other whispered.

Eridan felt a bit hurt and he frowned. He heard that often, and even though it didn't feel nice, it was half true, because Eridan was bisexual. He didn't see anything bad about that, and how could someone even tell what a gay looked like? They were just like everyone else, they just liked people of the same sex and that's it.

"I can hear you", Eridan said and glanced at the girls angrily. Anger was his way of hiding his true feelings, which wasn't very good because sometimes it made him seem too arrogant and it drove people away from him.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry", said the girl who had called him attractive.

"Don't you havve anythin' better to do than judge other people", Eridan snapped.

The other girl snorted and turned away. The other bit her lip and then turned to her friend and said something to her that Eridan couldn't hear anymore.

Soon the teacher walked in to the class and the first lesson started. Eridan was in a bad mood and didn't really bother to listen to the teacher. He pulled a sketchbook from his bag and started sketching a seahorse, as they were his favorite animals. He didn't really concentrate in the drawing either, his mind wandering and he just wished the lesson to end already when it hadn't really even started yet. His thinking was interrupted when the teacher called his name.

"Eridan?"

Eridan jumped and lifted his face up from the drawing to see the tall female teacher looking at him, waiting.

"U-uh, yes?" he said and felt his cheeks flushing. Oh cod, not again.

"I was just asking you to introduce yourself to the class", she said. "You're a new student after all."

Eridan gulped and got a grip of himself, lifting his head and changing his expression from surprised to a more confident one, although he wasn't feeling very confident, as he felt everyone's eyes piercing through him.

He cleared his throat. "Yes, my name is Eridan Ampora", he said and glanced at the others. He saw Terezi's face brighten and she gave him a small wave. She waved at a wrong direction, a bit to Eridan's right, but the poor girl was blind so it was understandable.

"Well, welcome to our school, Eridan", the teacher said. "Could you tell us something about yourself?"

"I don't think it wwould be necessary, miss", he said, sounding a bit tense.

The teacher looked a little taken aback, but then she turned around and walked to the blackboard.  
"Well then, why don't we start our lesson."

The students turned away from Eridan to look at the teacher. Eridan sighed and relaxed and then continued his drawing. He sketched the little seahorse's curled tail and smiled. He could admit he was pretty good at drawing, especially all kinds of sea creatures, because they were what he mostly drew due to his interest in underwater life.

It had been about fifteen minutes since the beginning of the lesson when a sharp knock on the door distracted Eridan from his drawing. He lifted his head up to see what kind of an asshole would show up late. The teached stopped talking and walked to the door to open it, revealing a panting, lanky boy with brown hair and bicolored glasses. Eridan froze and stared at the boy who was standing in the doorway. He immediately recognized the tall, skinny boy as Sollux Captor, the boy he had hated from the moment they met and he believed the other hated him too. They had always had a rivalry going on between them, throwing insults at each other and occasionally even fighting, even though it was rare but it had happened a few times. Eridan couldn't stand the other and he had already thought that he had finally gotten rid of him when they moved away, but now that his family had moved back to where they used to live, of course that fucker had to be in the same high school as him.

"Thorry I'm late, mithh", he said with a noticeable lisp, just as Eridan remembered.

The teacher sighed. "It's okay Sollux, now take a seat, please."

Eridan was quick to turn his head away when Sollux made his way to the desk in front of Aradia, the both of them greeting each other. Sollux threw his backpack on the floor at sat down, face towards the girl. Eridan noticed Aradia smiling brightly at Sollux, which made him feel a little jealous. Not only had he hated the boy, but had also been envious of him. Sollux was good at school without really even trying, he had lots of friends when Eridan only had a few. Sollux had a decent, loving family. Eridan had a family too, parents and an older brother, but they were rarely at home and didn't treat him very well. Sollux had had a couple of girlfriends too, last time they saw he had been dating Aradia. From the way they looked at each other, Eridan thought they might still be together.

He looked at Sollux for a while. The boy sure looked different, Eridan actually found his appearance quite attractive, but he would never admit that. He let his eyes study the boy's body, from his styled hair to his thin arms that were resting on Aradia's desk and his long legs, covered with dark grey jeans. He wore different colored shoes – black and white. Eridan snorted quietly at the boy still wearing those weird 3D –glasses.

Eridan stared at the boy for a while, not sure whether to feel anger, jealousy or attraction. He ended up feeling all of the three, being angry at himself for feeling that way. He looked away but couldn't concentrate in neither his drawing nor the lesson anymore, a certain Captor in his thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, I am back with chapter 2 ^^ Thank you for the sweet reviews, they made me really happy  
Enjoy ~**

Chapter 2

The next thirty minutes felt like an eternity. Eridan couldn't concentrate in anything, his thoughts racing in his head. He had known it would be possible for Sollux to be in the same school, but in the same class? This was just bad luck.

For the rest of the lesson he kept glancing at Sollux. Sollux sat lazily on his chair, chatting with Aradia quietly. The teacher asked them to stop for a few times, but it didn't take long for the two to start talking again and soon the teacher gave up.

There were a few minutes left of the lesson when the teacher gave them their homework. Eridan realized that he didn't have any idea what the teacher had been talking about but he could read the chapter from the textbook at home so it didn't really matter. He wouldn't mind it, after all history was his favorite school subject.

When the bell finally rang and the lesson ended, Eridan quickly gathered his things, stuffed them in his bag and left the classroom. He was pretty sure that Captor hadn't noticed him yet, but Eridan knew he couldn't keep avoiding the other boy for much longer. Now he needed to find the biology class, so he hurried to the direction in which Feferi had told him to go to. He held his head low and walked fast. He didn't want to meet Captor again, not yet.

The biology class wasn't very far, just as Feferi had said and Eridan found it quickly, only to notice that the door was closed. Eridan tried the doorhandle, but it was locked.  
"Shit…" he mumbled, clenching his fists nervously. He looked around and noticed a small sign telling that the toilets were just around the corner. He could go there and avoid Captor for a little longer, but Sollux would see him when he would come back. Or, he could stay here and wait for the other to show up and probably start talking to him. There was still time before the beginning of the next lesson, so Eridan chose to go to the toilet. At least that way he could avoid talking to Sollux until the next break.

Eridan took a look at the open door of the history class. There were already other students coming out and walking towards the biology class but Eridan didn't see Captor. He turned to the other corridor and walked to the white door that had two worn out black letters on it: "WC". He went in and closed the door behind him. It was a small, grey room with a dim lighting and three cubicles. He noticed a mirror on the wall and checked his hair before locking himself in one of the cubicles and sitting on the closed toilet seat. He dropped his bag on the floor and sighed, leaning back and staring at the dull grey ceiling and the lamp over his head. _This is fucking stupid… _he thought as he groaned quietly and closed his eyes. If he kept acting like this, it would only give Sollux one more reason to mock him. Of course he couldn't be sure if the other hated him anymore or if he even remembered him. Maybe the stupid nerd wouldn't be interested in him at all anymore. Eridan decided that he wouldn't talk to Captor unless the other made the first move. He just had to act normally, not like a coward, which was what he was doing right now, and maybe Sollux would leave him alone.

He sat there for a while, listening to the sound that came from the flickering light above the cubicle he was sitting in. He ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his temples lightly. This was not how he imagined his first day in the new school would go; hiding from some asshole in the toilets like a fucking wimp for no particular reason. He just didn't want to get hurt. Maybe Sollux had enjoyed their rivalry and didn't think it would actually affect Eridan, but it did. He had been hurt by the other's cruel remarks and insults for so many times. Especially when they were all true, or at least Sollux had made him believe they were. Sollux had talked about how Eridan had no friends because all he did was whine and how he wanted attention but gave none back. He had said Eridan was so pathetic that even his family was ashamed of him. He had criticized all of his interests and actions as well as his appearance. He made Eridan believe that no one actually liked him and the only reason they put up with him was that they pitied him. Even though Feferi had tried to tell Eridan that Sollux was wrong, he hadn't believed her. He couldn't blame them and he knew no one liked him, but he had wished so hard that there was someone that actually cared about him that he had believed in it until Sollux had crushed his hope. All he had wanted was a friend, someone who truly cared for him, but apparently that was too much to ask for. It was true that he wanted attention but he was also willing to give it. That was where Sollux was wrong.

But it wasn't like Eridan hadn't done anything to deserve such treatment. He had insulted and criticized the other too, but mostly to defend himself. His biggest mistake had been when he had gotten mad at Sollux and had made fun of his mentally disabled brother. Sollux had been mocking him for hours and when Eridan had finally snapped, he had said something he regretted right after it escaped his mouth. That was when Sollux had started making Eridan feel as miserable as possible. Sollux was very protective over his older brother. He didn't really mind insults that were directed to himself but if it was about his brother, he got easily hurt.

Soon after that they had had a bigger fight when they had physically hurt each other which had resulted to Sollux having a broken nose and Eridan having a black eye and broken glasses, as well as some bruises and scratches. The fight didn't last for long because somehow their classmates had managed to pull them off of each other before any more damage was made. What actually hurt Eridan wasn't the fight but what Sollux had shouted at him after it. The boy had looked furious as he had yelled that Eridan would just be better off dead. Sollux had apologized afterwards but Eridan was convinced that it was only because someone had made him to. The night after the fight had been the first time Eridan had taken a blade to his skin after hesitating for months.

Eridan could feel something warm running down his cheeks and he quickly put a hand on his mouth to muffle a loud sob. He squeezed his eyes shut and more tears fell down his cheeks. He was pathetic and he knew it and he was angry at himself for breaking down like this at school. He didn't even know how much time he had before the next lesson and he didn't want to go to class looking like a crybaby. Another sob escaped his lips and he pressed his hand harder against his mouth while his entire body was shaking with muted sobbing.

He felt horrible. It was all his fault. If he had just kept quiet from the beginning, Sollux would've eventually left him be and none of this would have happened. He was too proud and stupid to let the other insult him without protesting. He had responded in the wrong way; he should've asked Captor to leave him alone instead of insulting him back. He couldn't do anything about it anymore. What he had said couldn't be taken back anymore, no matter how hard he wanted to.

After a few minutes Eridan's sobs had turned into soft whimpers. He was sitting on the seat, face pressed against his palms and his body still trembling after the breakdown. His cheeks and palms were moist with tears and he wiped his hands on his jeans before reaching for his phone. He pulled it out of his pocket with a shaky hand and checked the time. He still had five minutes before the next lesson would start.

Eridan stood up, trying to breathe slowly and calm down. He took a deep breath with his eyes closed before taking his bag. He was reaching for the lock when he heard a quiet creak coming from the door that lead to the corridor. Eridan froze and his eyes widened. His hand was touching the lock and he was holding his breath, trying to listen for more sounds. The metal felt cold against the sensitive skin on his fingers.

He stood there for what felt like a long time but was probably not even twenty seconds before breathing again. Right after he let out the breath he was holding in he heard a couple of footsteps and a soft chuckle. Eridan's heart began to race. He wanted to get out but he couldn't open the door before he would be alone. He didn't want anyone to see how pitiful he was, crying in the school toilets. Who was it anyway and why didn't they do anything?

Eridan's question was answered when the other spoke. He didn't say much but Eridan recognized the familiar voice immediately, even when it had changed during the time they had spent far away from each other. "Tho… Ampora."

Eridan flinched when the other suddenly spoke. This was not the voice he wanted to hear right after crying like a fucking idiot while thinking about the person who the voice belonged to. This was not the voice he wanted to hear at all, ever again. And there he stood, in the small room with the person he hated, unable to move. He started shaking again as he tried to think what he would do now. He couldn't just stay quiet and he couldn't leave either or Sollux would see he had been crying. Eridan bit his lip and grimaced. He breathed deeply to steady his voice as he spoke.

"Captor." The name came out of his mouth as a hiss. At least his voice didn't break in the middle of the short word. Eridan shut his eyes, wishing for the other to leave. Why did this have to happen now?

"I haven't theen you in a while", Sollux said. He was smiling, Eridan could hear it in his voice and it didn't sound good.

"Wwhat do you wwant?", Eridan asked and bit his lip again.

"Oh, nothing. Jutht came to thay hi to an old friend."


	3. Chapter 3

**I am so sorry it took so long to write this chapter… For some reason it's been really hard to write, I've been trying to, and now I finally finished this chapter. And I've been busy so I didn't have time to write when I wanted to unu  
Again, thank you so much for the sweet reviews, I'm glad you like my story! Enjoy~**

Chapter 3

Eridan pressed his forehead on the cool surface of the door. The coolness felt nice and calming against his sweaty skin. He was getting very nervous but he needed to remember his pride and not let Sollux get the satisfaction of seeing Eridan suffer before him. He tried to relax but he still felt as if Captor could hear his heart beating rapidly in the now silent room.

"Since wwhen havve I been a friend a' yours?" Eridan asked, breaking the silence after a while.

Sollux snorted. "You aren't."

Eridan looked down and took a deep breath to steady his voice again. "Then wwhy'd you say –"

"It'th jutht a thaying, ED!" Sollux huffed, cutting Eridan off. Eridan's eyes widened slightly in surprise, because Sollux had used the old nickname he'd given Eridan years ago. He thought Captor wouldn't remember it anymore, but apparently he did.

"ED? Really, Captor? You're still usin' that name?" Eridan said and chuckled, although it came out more like as a nervous snicker. Eridan bit his lip and frowned. He wasn't supposed to let Sollux see how uncomfortable he was.

But luckily, Sollux didn't seem to notice. Eridan heard a quiet scratching noise and an annoyed sigh. "Come on, I'm jutht calling you that becauthe I know it irritateth you, athhole", Sollux stated.

They both fell silent again. Eridan tugged his sleeves over his palms and gripped the soft fabric. He shifted his position and tried to relax his tense muscles while he kept chewing his lip. The silence felt awkward, as if the conversation itself hadn't already been awkward enough. Eridan just wished for the other to leave so he could wash his tear-stained face and go to class. It couldn't be more than a few minutes left until the next lesson would start. Not that Eridan would mind, he didn't really care about biology unless the subject had something to do with underwater life, but he didn't want to be late on his first day. If he was late, he could just say that he got lost, which would be understandable if the biology classroom wasn't in the same hallway as the history classroom where he had just been. He would have no excuse for being late, but he thought that Sollux wouldn't want to be late either and he would leave before the next lesson started.

Eridan stopped chewing his lip when it started to taste like blood and licked his now slightly bruised lips, tasting a metallic flavor on the tip of his tongue. He pressed his forehead against the door again and closed his eyes before rubbing them. His eyelids felt a little swollen after crying. Eridan twitched a bit as the other started to talk again.

"You know ED, converthationth with you have never been that great but I have to thay that thith is one of the wortht", Sollux said, laughing scornfully. "Are you even gonna come out?"

"No", Eridan said firmly and frowned. "Not wwhen you're here, shithead."

"Oh come on fithhdick, I want to thee your thtupid fathe", Sollux coaxed.

"I said no, is there somethin' wwrong wwith your ears, fuckass?" Eridan snapped, clenching his jaw and furrowing his eyebrows. He was getting pissed. Why did Captor have to stick around here?

"I believe they work perfectly fine", Sollux said. Eridan was sure the other was smirking, he could hear it in his voice.

"Wwhy the hell do you evven wwant to see me?" Eridan asked, frustrated. "Can't you just leavve me alone?"

"Nope", Sollux said and chuckled.

Eridan groaned. "Please? The lesson is probably about to start!" he said, trying to convince the boy to leave.

"We thtill got five minuteth", Sollux said. "Bethideth, I'm not leaving, I'm not gonna mithh thith."

Eridan's frown only deepened. "Wwhat? Wwhat is it that you don't wwanna miss?" he asked. "There's nothing here but me!"

"Exactly", was all Sollux answered.

Eridan froze. Wait, what? Why would Captor not want to miss… him? He thought Sollux would have wanted to avoid him but instead he came here to look for him. This made Eridan even more confused. What was going on?

"Wwhat the hell?!" he stuttered. He heard a silent chuckle again, which only annoyed him more.

"You're a fucking idiot, ED", Sollux said.

Eridan huffed. "No, you are! Wwhat wwas that for?!" he said, raising his voice. "Wwhat the fuck do you mean you don't wwanna miss _me, _Sol?"

Eridan bit his bruised lip again, but this time it wasn't because of uneasiness but annoyance. He had accidentally used that nickname, Sol, but he didn't care because he knew Sollux hated it. He almost forgot his insecure state, wanting to slam the door open and hit the other boy for making him so uncomfortable and confused. He clenched his fists in anger; he truly hated Captor.

"Oh, tho you're uthing the nicknameth too?" Sollux teased.

"Fuck off!" Eridan almost shouted, cheeks flushing with anger and embarrassment.

Sollux let out a quiet laugh.

"Wwhat the hell are you bein' so happy about?" Eridan snarled.

It took a while for the other to answer. "You're tho damn cute when you get mad, ED", Sollux said quietly.

Eridan was taken aback by this, not fully understanding what Captor had just said. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't know what to say, so he slowly closed it again, staring at the grey door bluntly. _Did he just… call me cute? _he thought, astounded. He wasn't even sure if the other was just joking or actually being serious. Eridan hoped that Sollux was just messing with him, because if he wasn't… That would surely make things more complicated.

"Did the cat get your tongue?" Sollux bantered, and Eridan realized that he had been silent for a while. He still didn't know what to say and he just sighed, all of his previous anger gone.

"Get out", he groaned and pressed his palms on his warm cheeks.

"Come on, jutht let me –"

"Just leavve", Eridan said, slightly rising his voice. "Please…"

It was silent for a moment and Eridan rubbed his temples. His head was starting to ache.

"O-okay", Eridan heard the other saying quietly, and a few footsteps and a clank was heard as the door closed.

Eridan sank back on the toilet seat and he heard a soft thump as his bag fell on the floor. He let out a small groan and buried his face in his palms. Today sure wasn't going as planned.

* * *

Eridan showed up in the biology class a few minutes late. He mumbled an apology and the tired looking teacher nodded and told him to take a seat. As Eridan made his way to the back of the room, he kept his eyes on the ground and was careful not to look anyone in the eyes but he could still feel their eyes on him. He knew Captor was there somewhere, probably gazing at him too and he started feeling awkward when he thought of it. He hastened his pace and when he found a seat next to the dark blue haired girl he had seen in the history class, he dropped his bag on the desk and slumped on the chair, resting his chin on his arms, trying to look as small as possible. He kept his gaze closely on the teacher, thoughts racing in his head. He wasn't even listening to what the teacher said, only staring at him with glazed eyes. He still didn't know if Captor had been serious about calling him cute. He would've been flattered to hear the compliment from about anyone else than his old rival. This just made things even more uncomfortable between them. It also made him wonder if the other had some kind of feelings for him. Eridan blushed slightly. He had to admit that he had had a small crush on Captor before they had started to really hate each other, but it was a couple years ago and had only lasted for a while. He hadn't told Captor about it but somehow the other had found out and had started making fun of him because of it. Now Eridan wished that Captor hadn't developed any kind of romantic feelings for him, because he certainly did not want to fall for the nerdy boy again.

Eridan frowned and took a deep breath. He was overthinking again and he needed to calm down. He slid his fingers in his hair and massaged his scalp slowly. He squinted his eyes, not even bothering to look at the teacher anymore. He noticed that no one else was really paying attention either, and the teacher seemed like he couldn't care less, but he still kept talking with his boring voice.

After a while Eridan felt someone poking his side and he twitched away from the touch, turning his face to see the blue haired girl staring at him. He hadn't noticed it before, but the girl had a black patch covering her left eye.

"Ouch!" he whispered, frowning at the girl.

"Wow, you sure were deep in your thoughts!" the girl whispered back.

Eridan shrugged and turned away from her, pushing his glasses further up his nose, as they had began to slip down.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" the girl hissed and Eridan turned back to look at her.

"Wwhat do you wwant?" he blurted.

The girl frowned at his angry expression. "Whoa, calm down", she whispered. She looked at Eridan for a while and smirked, revealing perfectly white teeth and sharp canines. "I'm Vriska Serket", she introduced herself. "And you're Ampora, right?"

"Yes", Eridan answered and huffed. "Look, could you just leavve me alone?"

"Hey, no need to be so rude! And no, no I can't", Vriska whispered and stuck out her tongue. She waited a while for Eridan to reply and when he didn't, she leaned back on her chair and smirked again. "Having a rough day, huh, hipster boy?"

Eridan turned his head towards the girl again, studying her face. Vriska stared back with a smug expression and she tossed her hair behind her back. They fell on her shoulders and the dark locks almost reached her lower back. That made Eridan think of Feferi; her hair was as long as Vriska's.

"Wwhy do you care?" Eridan mumbled. Usually no one bothered to ask about his mood, except his best friend, and the question felt a bit weird coming from a stranger.

Vriska was about to say something when the blind girl on her right tugged her sleeve. Much to Eridan's relief, Vriska turned away from him to face her friend.

"Vriska, who are you talking to?" Terezi asked, looking confused.

"Oh, it's just that hipster, you know, the new student?" Vriska said and glanced at Eridan, smirking.

"Oh him!" Terezi said with a wide grin. "I know him, we used to go to the same school before he moved away."

Terezi leaned towards the two others, turning her face to Eridan's direction.

"Hey fishboy!"

Eridan grimaced a bit. Why did others have to call him such stupid names?

"Hey, Terezi."

Terezi flashed a smile at him and then the girls turned away from Eridan, starting to discuss with each other. Eridan sighed in relief as he was finally left alone, which actually wasn't that good either, because his thoughts immediately switched back to Captor. Eridan groaned quietly and and pressed his face on his palms. This was going to be a long day.

**A/N: Phew! I'm so sorry for the wait, I'm going to try to update more often!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The rest of the day seemed to go by awfully slowly and when the last lesson – which was mathematics – finally ended, Eridan rushed out of the school after grabbing the books he needed and started walking home. He didn't live that far from the school; the walk would take about half an hour. He usually went to school by bus, because then he could sleep a little longer in the morning, but he liked walking back home after school.

It had gotten quite windy and the sky was covered with dark clouds, and it looked like it would start to rain soon. This was a more likeable weather – at least for Eridan - compared to the hot, sunny one in the morning, but the wind was cold, so he pulled a black, thick scarf from his bag and threw it carelessly around his neck, walking as fast as he could to get away from the school. The first day hadn't been a very pleasant experience, not that he would have expected it to be.

Eridan got out of the school area and turned left to a street with trees on both sides. Next to the street was a driveway which was quite empty, but it was only a quarter past two in the afternoon. A car or two drove past him occasionally, so it was quiet. The town he lived in wasn't that big which meant that the traffic wasn't very busy.

Eridan was relieved that Captor hadn't tried to talk to him again that day, but he had caught the boy looking at him a few times. He had managed to calm down during the day so that he could have paid at least some attention to the other lessons. During the lunch break he had still been feeling so nervous that he couldn't eat, and Feferi had seemed quite worried and asked if something was wrong. Eridan had tried to convince the girl that everything was okay and he was only feeling slightly nauseated, and eventually Feferi had believed him, though she had still seemed a little suspicious. He didn't tell her about Sollux, but she knew they were in the same class and if this kept happening, she would find out. Feferi had been the one who had tried to keep the two boys away from each other, and had succeeded to prevent some fights, so she wouldn't like it if they started fighting again.

After a while Eridan turned to the street that led to his home. Their house was bigger than most in the neighborhood, because his family was pretty rich. Eridan still wasn't quite sure what his parents did to earn all of the money and by the sound of things he didn't really want to know.

Soon Eridan reached the house and walked to the door. He took a glance at the yard; it was fairly big and there was a short pathway that lead to the door of the white, bulky house which Eridan was standing in front of and a shelter for a car, which was empty as usual. There wasn't really anything on the yard, just lawn that was well cared for, but behind the house was a swimming pool. There was another one inside the house, and it was bigger than the one outside. Eridan had always loved swimming, just like his father and brother.

The door opened to an extensive hall. Chandeliers hanged from the ceiling and the space was bright, because there were large windows on the opposite side of the room. There was a long, light purple mat on the floor which lead from the front door to the back door. There were some paintings on the walls and one of them was even painted by Eridan himself. There was a door that lead to a small library and another one that lead to the bathroom and the pool, and a staircase on Eridan's right. On his left was a large living room and a kitchen. Eridan glanced at the living room; it was empty as usual. The house was silent and Eridan assumed that nobody was home. What a surprise.

Eridan turned right and walked up the round stairs to a corridor which was darker than the hall downstairs. The walls were a dark, deep color with a slight tint of violet and there were small decorative lamps on the walls. There were doors on both sides of the corridor and the last one on the right was open. Most of the doors were locked and Eridan didn't have access in them, so he just walked past them to the end of the corridor and took a look at the room on the right to check if there was someone. It was his brother's room, but there was no one inside. Eridan sighed and closed the door and then turned around to the door on the left. He opened the door and entered his fairly big, messy room.

He locked the door behind him even though the house was empty, but it had become a habit. He threw his bag carelessly next to his desk and then slumped on his big, soft bed, which had a lilac cover with pictures of seashells on it.

Eridan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, staring at the blank white ceiling. He let his gaze travel on his walls; they had paintings and drawings on them, most of them portrayed sea creatures and landscapes and were painted by Eridan. On the wall next to the bed was a big window with a windowsill large enough for Eridan to sit on and which had a view to the front yard, but the view was blocked with black curtains. On the left side of the room was a messy desk with mostly painting and drawing supplies and some decorative items. Next to the desk was a bookshelf which was full of thick books and some sketchbooks. The books were mostly about historical events, mainly wars and such, but there were also some fantasy books. Eridan observed the books for a while, but as much as he enjoyed reading and learning about the warlords of the past, he couldn't get up from the bed to fetch a book. Besides, he was pretty sure that his spinning mind wouldn't be able to concentrate in such things as reading and it would only result with him flipping through the pages, not being able to comprehend a word of what he was reading.

Eridan turned his head to look at the right side of the room, which was now behind him, as he was lying on the bed. There was a low, wooden table with a TV on it close to the end of the bed, so that Eridan could lie in his bed while watching it. Next to it was a shelf with lots of movies on it. The rest of the wall was nearly covered in pictures. Eridan let his gaze travel back to the wall where the door was and looked at the wardrobe next to it. Both doors were covered with two big mirrors which had some photos attached to them, mostly of Feferi and some of his other friends. Most of the photos were years old and not in a very good condition anymore, because Eridan used to riffle though the photos when he was feeling down and had to distract himself from doing… other things, before he had put the photos on the mirrors. Sometimes it hurt to look at the old photos and see how careless his life had been when he had been younger. Back then his family had been more whole and he had had more friends. Now he was more unsocial and felt uncomfortable in other people's presence unless they were close to him.

The bed creaked quietly as Eridan sat up on the edge of the bed. He stared at the floor for a while and frowned. His head was aching and he was hungry, because he hadn't eaten anything that day. He slowly got up and went to the door, pulling the scarf off his neck as he walked. He dropped the scarf next to his bag and opened the door, planning to go get some food and then watch a movie to get his mind off of some things.

* * *

The movie ended way too soon. Eridan sank back on the bed as the credits started rolling on the screen, listening to the sound of rain which had started pouring on the roof a while ago. He yanked his phone out of his pocket to check the time; it was almost six o'clock in the evening. He threw the phone on his bed and got up to remove the disk from the DVD –player. He put it back in the box and grabbed another movie to watch. It distracted him from his thoughts at least a bit, even though he just stared at the TV blankly, forgetting what he had watched as soon as it left the screen.

After a while of watching the second movie, Eridan started feeling sleepy. He hadn't slept well last night and hell, he didn't even remember when was the last time he had gotten a good night's sleep. It was always the nightmares or he simply couldn't fall asleep. Those nights were the worst – he was left in the dark with all of his thoughts.

A loud noise came from downstairs and it made Eridan jump. He sat up on the bed and brushed his now messy hair off of his face. He stopped and listened carefully for more noises, and soon heard a soft thump and giggling. Eridan sighed and rubbed his eyes, the rough motion making his eyes tingle and small, colorful dots appear all over his sight. He blinked his eyes a few times and soon the dots disappeared. He grunted and got up, stretching a little before going downstairs.

Eridan reached the bottom of the stairs and saw his brother and a girl at the door. They were clinging to each other and making out rather vocally, and most likely were extremely drunk. They were both wet from the rain, their clothes sticking to their skin. Eridan's cheeks flushed at the sight of this and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Cronus", he called, loud enough to distract his brother.

The man turned away from his companion to look at Eridan. The girl looked a little disappointed, until she noticed what he was looking at. Her big eyes widened a little in surprise and she straightened her bright pink shirt, the same color as her glasses. The girl had black, baggy pants and lots of colorful bracelets on her slim wrists. Her hair was black and short but she had two long braids behind her back and her skin was brown. His brother instead had pale skin that looked almost white next to the dark-skinned girl, and black hair that was usually neatly styled, but was now messy. He was tall and slightly brawny and at the moment, was seemingly struggling to stay on his feet. Cronus took a few steps towards Eridan, but almost tripped over his leather jacket that had been thrown on the floor.

"Hey there, chief!" Cronus slurred as soon as he got his eyes focused on Eridan and flashed a wide smile at his brother. Eridan noticed a cigarette burn on his white t-shirt. His ripped skinny jeans seemed dirty, as if he had fallen a couple of times, which wouldn't be astonishing, heeding his current condition.

Eridan frowned at his brother's disheveled appearance. "Wwhere havve you been?"

"Oh you knowv, just attended a damn great party vwith this kitten right here, I'm telling you", he said with a grin, stuttering with his ws and vs a little like Eridan, even more so now that he was drunk. He grabbed the girl's waist and pulled her closer. The girl giggled but pushed him away.

"We're having company, idiot", she replied but her pink lips spread into a teasing smile.

Eridan stared at the two in disbelief. "Howw fuckin' drunk are you?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Enough", his brother answered and tried to reach the girl again, almost losing his balance.

Eridan huffed and looked down. He almost pitied his brother for getting himself so fucked up once again, and he could only imagine the hangover he would have the next day. Eridan might be unsocial, but it was still better than going around the town every night just to get drunk and act like a fool.

"I don't mean to be rude", Eridan interrupted loudly and they turned to look at him. "But wwho evven are you?" he asked, directing his question to the girl.

"My name is Meenah", the girl said and looked a little irritated.

"She's my girlfriend", Cronus announced and smirked at her.

"Damn right", Meenah answered and grinned, stepping next to Cronus as he draped his hand around the girl.

Somehow the answer didn't surprise Eridan and he rolled his eyes. His brother got a new "girlfriend" about every two weeks, and his longest relationship had probably lasted for a stupendous month, sarcastically saying. Not that Eridan really cared to keep up with his brother's shitty relationships. He just felt kind of sorry for the girl for having to put up with his douchebag of a brother.

Eridan was already getting sick of watching the two nuzzling against each other, feeling a slight sting in his chest which made him grimace and look away. He bit his lip and twitched a little as his teeth scraped the bruised skin. He stood there for a while awkwardly, and just now the disgusting smell of booze and cigarettes reached his nose.

"Yeah, okay, wwhatevver", he mumbled and started scooting towards the bathroom. He wanted to get away from the two drunken idiots and he might as well go take a shower to free his mind from new unpleasant thoughts. He felt heat collecting on his face and his eyes started to sting. His sight was getting watery as he once again bit his already swollen lip as if it hadn't been bitten enough that day. He got inside the dim room and locked the door, leaning against it, trying to choke back a sob. He had no idea what had caused this sudden burst of emotions. Maybe he just really was a wimp and there was nothing more to it. Eridan sunk on the floor. He was embarrassed of himself for bursting into tears again. He was just a failure, a wreck, that's what he was. No wonder no one would tolerate him.

After a while of pointless whimpering on the cold floor, Eridan collected his nerves and calmed down. He sniffed and the familiar smell of chlorine filled his nose. He eyed at the pool, the still and clear water looked inviting. He wiped his eyes, still not feeling very great, and sauntered to the edge of the pool, looking down at his distorted reflection, the sound of the rain pouring on the roof and the water rippling. The light blue bottom of the pool gleamed as the water refracted the sunlight coming from the skylight window above the pool.

Eridan sighed and pulled his clothes off lazily, getting chills from the sudden cool air on his skin. He took a firm position on the edge of the pool and looked at the water below him. He raised his straight hands over his head and breathed deeply, closing his eyes. Then he leaned forward and dived, breaking the still surface without splashing the water. He slided fluently towards the glistening bottom, surrounded by the cool, familiar mass caressing his exposed skin, and for the first time that day he felt truly calm as his lips widened into a small smile.

**A/N: I hope you liked it! Feel free to leave reviews, I love reading them. :3**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm super sorry for the delay on this chapter, I'll try to update more often from now on.**

Chapter 5

Eridan was staring at the rain hitting the window next to him. The small raindrops ran down the glass, leaving trails behind them that soon disappeared when more drops fell on them. A faint reflection looked back at him, seeming despondent and haggard, just like his mood. He hadn't slept well in days, mostly because of his brother and his mind, keeping him awake to the early hours of morning. Cronus had been drunk on several nights and had often brought Meenah home with him and Eridan had had to listen to the noises coming from his brother's room, which had made him feel even worse. The past week had been – understatingly said - an unpleasant experience.

His tired eyes stared blankly at the continuing rain and the gloomy sky. He wasn't really thinking about anything, which was a congenial change and made it easier to relax. He felt his eyes drifting shut and a nice, warm feeling enfolded his body into a comforting embrace.

And suddenly, with a high pitched voice, Eridan was yanked back into the school cafeteria and the warm feeling was gone.

"Eridan?"

He tore his eyes away from the window and turned his head towards the girl sitting in front of him, staring at him from behind her pink glasses with a concerned expression.

"Wwhat is it, Fef?" he said tiredly, and a bit more harshly than he had meant to.

Feferi frowned a little at him. "Stop being so grumpy! You really need to eat, I didn't bring this for nothing", she said, pushing the plate with a slice of pizza closer to Eridan.

He glanced at the food, grimacing in disgust. Even though his stomach had been growling, he wasn't feeling that good and eating didn't sound very appealing at the moment.

"I don't feel like eatin'", he stated and pushed it away.

Feferi sighed. "You need to tell me what's wrong or else I can't help you", she said. Her voice sounded strained and worried.

"I havve told you already, I'm okay an' you don't need to wworry about me", Eridan said with a huff. He sneaked his fingers under the glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes.

It was silent for a moment. Eridan stared at the white table with a frown. A quiet chatter could be heard in the cafeteria; it was early in the morning so there weren't that many people. Eridan put his hands on the table and cracked his knuckles before starting to fiddle with the golden rings with purple stones on some of them around his fingers. Soon he was stopped with a slender hand of his friend's as she curled her fingers around his. Her bracelets clinked against the table when she moved her hands.

"But I am worried, you know", she said more quietly than usually. "You've been acting weird since school started."

Eridan lifted his head to meet the brown eyes of his friend. Her eyebrows were knit together and she was chewing on her lip. This was an unusual expression on the face of the normally cheery and bubbly girl. Eridan felt a sting of guilt and he lowered his gaze back to the table. Even though he was happy about the attention and that she cared about him, he didn't want to make his best friend worry about him too much. In fact it was sometimes quite annoying, and he would have rather talked about something else and forgotten his bad mood for a while, just like usually happened while talking with Feferi. She had always known how to cheer him up, but now she looked helpless with the situation.

"Look, I can handle my owwn business", he said and pulled one of his hands away from hers, scratching his hairline.

"Eridan, I know, but I can't let you neglect yourself!" she said and pulled his hand closer. "You need to shape up and stop being so sad all the time."

He frowned and rested his forehead against his hand. "I'm not sad all the time, I'm just tired. You knoww, this wweek hasn't been that great an' I'd rather not talk about it", he said.

She huffed and gripped his hand tighter. "I'm your best friend, we should talk about your feelings sometimes! Tell me what is bothering you", she demanded, her voice sounding firm.

Eridan rolled his eyes. "I just havven't been sleepin' wwell, Fef, that is all", he responded.

Feferi didn't seem convinced. "That is all?" she reiterated, emphasizing the word 'all'. "Eridan, I don't believe you. There must be something bothering you, you don't act like this normally! I can't say you would usually be that cheerful or optimistic but I can certainly tell something is wrong this time! You should try to overcome your pride and not keep all of your feelings to yourself and instead consider telling me about them for _once_", she said. Her voice sounded very serious and when Eridan looked up at her face, her expression was determined.

"And don't lie to me, mister."

Eridan groaned quietly and sunk down on the table, pressing his cheek against the cool surface. He stayed there, not saying a word and listening to the voices around him. He thought of what Feferi had said and considered whether he should tell her or not. It had been exactly a week since he had last talked with Sollux, but he had seen the other boy many times, because they shared most of their classes. He had often caught Sollux looking at him but the boy had looked very inexpressive every time and Eridan couldn't tell what he wanted, if he wanted anything at all. But it wasn't like Eridan hadn't been glancing at him too; he was curious about why he hadn't spoken with him after the time in the bathroom. Maybe it had just been too awkward for the both of them, but it still left a tentative feeling inside him. He had often been thinking if he should start a conversation with Captor and try to find out his purpose for talking to him in the first place, but he couldn't have brought himself to do it. Besides, he didn't really want to talk with him. Even thinking about it made him nervous, and he hated it. He raised his head a bit, studying the familiar rings around his fingers. Feferi was still holding his other hand but she had loosened her grip a little.

After a few minutes of silence, Eridan could hear Feferi sighing as she started to stroke his hand gently with her thumb.

"Is it because of Sollux?" she asked quietly.

Eridan's heart jumped at her words and he bit his lip, cursing inwardly. Of course she would know it was because of Sollux. He had been sure Feferi would ask about it sooner or later, but he certainly had not been waiting for the moment to come. He didn't know what to answer, so he decided to be quiet for a while more and see what she had to say about it, so he just pressed his lips into a tight line and kept staring at his rings as if they were something interesting.

There was an awkward moment of silence between them before Feferi spoke again.

"It _is_ because of Sollux, isn't it?"

Eridan nodded slightly and she tapped his arm.

"He told me he talked to you on the first day", she said and Eridan lifted his head up from the table to look at her. He frowned and felt a sting of jealousy. Why was Captor talking with Feferi?

As Eridan did not answer, Feferi sighed and smiled reassuringly.

"He's not as bad as you probably think he is, reelly!" she said and giggled at the pun she made, at which Eridan rolled his eyes. When they were young, Feferi had used every opportunity she got to make a fish pun, but she had toned it down as she got older. She still used them sometimes though, whether as her own entertainment or to try to cheer him up, Eridan couldn't tell which, if not both. "He is actually quite nice! You should get to know him better, I'm sure you two can leave your silly disagreements behind and maybe even become friends!" she continued and grinned, letting go of Eridan's hand.

Eridan placed his hands on his lap and grimaced. Him, friends with Sollux?

He shook his head. "No, thanks. I knoww wwhat he's like an' I don't wwish to havve anythin' to do wwith him evver again", he said and Feferi frowned at him.

"Don't say that! You don't know him anymore, he has changed a lot and he is truly sorry for what he did", she said and placed her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her hands.

"So are you twwo good friends noww or somethin'?" he asked, feeling a slight anger growing inside him. The last thing he wanted now was to lose his best friend to someone like Sollux.

She smiled and nodded, seemingly not noticing the virulent tone of Eridan's voice. "We have always been friends though, you know that", she said. "I'm sure you would like him if you would finally grow up and forget about the past."

Eridan gritted his teeth and huffed. "Fef it isn't somethin' I could just suddenly forget like that", he muttered and narrowed his eyes. He wouldn't forgive Sollux for how he had made him feel, but he knew it was partly his fault too.

"An' I don't think I'm evver goin' to like him no matter howw nice or sorry he is."

No, he definitely would not like Captor ever again. Once there had been a time when the other hadn't seemed too bad, but it had changed quickly.

Feferi sighed, puckering her lower lip into a pout. "Eridan! You should at least give him a chance and stop being an idiot", she scolded.

"I don't fuckin' wwant to givve him a chance", Eridan snarled. He was getting angry and he didn't want to keep talking about this or he would end up getting mad and saying something he would regret. He clenched his hands into fists and kept staring at the table, trying to calm down.

"Wwhy do you evven care about us gettin' along wwhen you knoww it's not goin' to happen?"

"Because I care about both of you and I don't want to see you fighting anymore!" Feferi replied, her voice starting to sound slightly desperate. There was a short silence, until Feferi asked him a question.

"Do you really hate him that much?"

Eridan stopped. He looked up at Feferi, who was looking back at him with a worried expression. His expression softened and he relaxed his hands, thinking about the question for a while. Did he really hate Sollux? He had wanted to be his friend, but the other had turned down every attempt he had made at getting to know him better. Eridan didn't know why, he didn't think he had done anything wrong at that time. Maybe there was just something about him that people didn't like, even though he sometimes tried to be nice and make friends. He didn't have many friends now, mainly just Feferi and a guy called Karkat he hadn't spoken with in a while. He kind of missed talking with the boy who always seemed to be angry at something, but had given the best advice - about practically everything - he had ever gotten and they had been quite close. Then something happened, Karkat moved away and got new friends, and the two had started talking less and less, until a couple of months ago Karkat had completely ceased talking with Eridan. They were the only good friends he had ever had, mainly because of Sollux who had made people get a negative impression of him by telling people and joking about how much of an awful person Eridan was. Just thinking about that made the anger grow bigger inside Eridan again, and he didn't have to think about the answer anymore; he definitely hated Captor.

He gritted his teeth and looked at Feferi, squinting slightly. "Yeah, I do", he nearly hissed, and at this Feferi let out a disapproving snort.

"Fine! Come talk to me again when you decide to act reasonable, for god's sake Eridan, you are not a child anymore!" she huffed with an annoyed and, as far as Eridan could tell, disappointed expression, before standing up and grabbing the plate and her bag, storming off and out of the cafeteria.

Eridan looked at her go, a bit surprised and feeling guilty. He let out a quiet groan and pressed his face in his palms. He had pissed her off again, and it would probably take a while for her to forgive him. He didn't regret what he had said though – it was better than lying after all, wasn't it? He would apologize to her later, but he didn't want to think about it now, because he was sure Feferi would make him clear things up with Sollux sooner or later. He felt a sting of anger again just by thinking the other boys name. He couldn't help but to blame his parents about this too; if they hadn't decided to move away from here, Feferi and Sollux probably wouldn't have gotten closer, as it seemed to be the case now and this conversation would have never happened. Eridan gritted his teeth again but sighed, trying to calm down. It wouldn't do any good to him to dwell in these thoughts, it would only make him feel worse. He would need to talk to Feferi again soon, because he really didn't like the idea of walking around the school all by himself. He still hadn't gotten any new friends, mostly because he hadn't really been socializing, but there would be a time for that too. But that time would be later.

Eridan sighed again and rubbed his eyes. He needed to get more sleep, as it was even easier for someone or something to piss him off when he was tired. He lifted his face up from his palms and looked at the clock on the wall. He still had plenty of time before the history lesson would start, and he could spend the next twenty minutes sitting here, seeing that he had nothing better to do.

He leaned back on the chair and sighed, glancing at the door. He noticed two people getting in and it took him a moment to process the sight, and as he did, his eyes shot open and his heart jumped. Feferi had come back but she wasn't alone; the person with her was of course the last person he wanted to see right now – Sollux.

He quickly grabbed his bag from the floor and set it on the table in front of him, trying to look as small as possible. He could only grimace at his own behavior. He was doing it again, he was hiding from Captor. He mentally slapped himself for acting like this, but who could blame him.

He peeked over the bag, his heart racing, and cursed inwardly as he saw Fef pointing at his direction and Sollux starting to slowly walk closer to him. For a moment he considered fleeing, he could just take his bag and run, but he gave up the plan, noticing Feferi was still standing at the doorway, and there was no way he would get past her. He clenched his fists in frustration. He was mad at Feferi, and she would definitely hear about this later.

It felt like it took forever for Sollux to walk to him and stop next to the table. Eridan stared at the table attentively, gritting his teeth and waiting for the other to say something. He didn't want to start the conversation, and he would have rather been anywhere else than here, but there was no other option than to get this thing over with if he wanted Feferi to talk to him again.

As a minute or two passed and Captor still hadn't spoken, Eridan slowly tore his gaze off the table and hesitantly met the eyes covered in red and blue of the scrawny boy standing awkwardly in front of him.

He bared his teeth and glared at him, the words coming out of his mouth as a barely audible hiss. "Wwhat the fuck do you wwant noww?"

Sollux frowned at his tone. "I thought you wanted to talk with me, or at leatht thath what FF thaid", he said, plopping down on the chair in front of Eridan where Feferi had been sitting only minutes ago as a much more preferable person to talk with.

Eridan scowled at Feferi, who was standing at the doorway and observing the two boys. She crossed her arms and stared back at him, not showing much emotion. Eridan huffed and turned back to look at Sollux, who was waiting for him to answer with his eyebrows raised, almost disappearing under his messy bangs. He looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep either, the dark circles under his eyes clearly visible even under the tinted glasses.

Eridan let out a deep, annoyed sigh and closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Fine. Let's talk."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The two boys just stared at each other for a while, neither of them saying anything. Eridan's left hand was resting on the table, his fingers fiddling the strap of his bag nervously. He had agreed to talk with the boy who was sitting in front of him and looking at him with his eyebrows raised, waiting for him to say something, but now he couldn't think up what to say. After all, he hadn't even wanted to have the talk he was going to have to go through with now. It was Feferi's fault that he was in this situation, and he shot an angry scowl at her direction. She was still standing in the doorway, leaning on the frame and looking at them.

Eridan groaned quietly, annoyed, and turned his gaze back to Sollux.

"Tho were you going to thay thomething or are we jutht going to thit here like a couple of idioth?" Sollux asked, with a hint on impatience in his voice.

"I don't fuckin' havve anythin' to say", Eridan snarled, his eyebrows knitting together. Maybe the other would just take the hint and leave, though Feferi wouldn't be pleased if that would happen.

Sollux frowned. "Then why am I here? I have more important thingth to do than wathte my time thtaring at your thtupid fathe if there'th not even a good reathon for it", he said, crossing his arms.

Eridan rolled his eyes, taking in a long breath and trying to calm his nerves. The continuing stare coming from the other side of the table was making him feel uncomfortable and he was sure it could be seen from his face. He shifted nervously on the seat, setting his eyes on the table and staring at the reflection of the lamps above him. He couldn't help but to wonder if his hair looked okay or if there was something on his face, no matter how utterly stupid it was, but that happened every time someone was staring at him like that.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, just in case.

"You're here because Fef wwants us to get along or somethin', like that's goin' to happen", he said quickly and cleared his throat, avoiding Sollux's gaze. "An' as far as I remember, you'vve been "thtarin' at my thtupid fathe" quite a lot recently, evven wwithout a reason", he said, this time with a more snarky tone, overexaggarating the pretended lisp.

Sollux snorted, his thin lips curling back to a small grimace, revealing his slightly crooked teeth, which probably were the cause of his speech impediment.

"Thtop making fun of me, your thpeech ithnt't perfect either, douche", he snapped, averting what Eridan had actually said. Eridan could hear him shifting on the seat and sighing.

"Anyway, why ith getting along with me thuch a horrible idea? I mean, we're not in middle thchool anymore, and to be honetht, that thhit wath ridiculouth", Sollux said and snickered quietly.

Eridan lifted his head again to look at Sollux, raising his eyebrows incredulously. Had he seriously just called it ridiculous? All the fights they had had, all the insults they had thrown at each other? Didn't he remember how both of them had been hurt, or what they had said? He really didn't seem to have any idea of how greatly it had affected Eridan, and was still affecting him to this day, even though it was something he should have forgotten about already, but he couldn't. Eridan would have gotten mad at Captor for laughing at the pathetic misery that was his life, but he couldn't do that either, because it felt like he was trying to compensate it in his own way. Maybe Eridan had only been taking it all too seriously from the start, and thinking about that made him feel like an idiot as he saw the corners of Sollux's lips curl upward into a small smile. It also made him feel like for Sollux it had all just been a game to mess around with him, and Eridan had been the fool to fall straight into it. He wasn't sure what to think of it, but mostly it made him angry, despite what he had thought just a moment earlier.

"Ridiculous?" he snapped, gritting his teeth and leaning forward. "Really, you call it _ridiculous?"_

Sollux looked puzzled, the smile quickly fading from his lips.

"What? It wath fucking thtupid, wathn't it?" he asked, his voice sounding uncertain, as if he wanted Eridan to confirm it.

Eridan huffed and placed both of his hands on the table with a small thump and a clink of his rings.

"Yeah, okay, it wwas ridiculous and stupid and wwhatevver you decide to call you perpetually tryin' your fuckin' best to make me feel like shit", he snarled, nearly hissing, but keeping his voice as quiet as possible, so that only Sollux could hear. The last thing his nerves needed was other people paying attention to their conversation, and he was already on the verge of blowing up completely. He was fatigued from the lack of sleep and everything he had had to deal with recently, and he wanted nothing but for this day to end so he could go home and curl in his bed with a warm blanket and maybe a book, but unfortunately the day was only starting. The whole world seemed to be against him, straining him with new disappointments and adversities all the time, no matter how much he tried to avoid them. Such as talking to this asshole right here.

Sollux furrowed his eyebrows. "Excuthe me? That theemed to be pretty mutual and jethuth fuck, pleathe don't tell me you took all of that theriouthly", he said, rolling his eyes and sitting up straight on his chair.

Eridan took a sharp breath, his anger and embarrassment growing. He could feel his face heat up, though he wasn't sure which one of the emotions caused it. "Howw the fuck do you expect me to not take it seriously? Maybe you're forgettin' somethin', because wwe had actual fights, Sol, actual, _fuckin' _fights, it wwasn't just meaninless fuckin' around as you seem to take it", he said, glaring at the other boy and clenching his hands into tight fists, his nails digging into his palms.

For a moment Sollux's expression changed, but Eridan couldn't quite catch what the emotion on his face was, before he brought his hands up to his face and rested his elbows on the table, groaning quietly.

"Yeah, yeah we did, and it wath fucking thupid ath I thaid", Sollux mumbled, pushing his glasses up a bit and rubbing his eyes. The both of them stayed silent for a moment and Sollux fixed his glasses again, looking back at Eridan. He rested his chin on his hands and sighed.

"Look, I'm really fucking thorry about that, I mean it. We were jutht a couple of thtupid kidth, let'th forget about it, okay?"

His voice was barely audible, and Eridan had to lean forward to hear what he had said. He let his eyes scan the cafeteria for a moment to make sure no one was listening to them, before setting them back on Sollux. He sighed and leaned back on his chair, crossing his arms. He was kind of surprised to hear him apologizing with such sincerity, or at least that was what he thought it was. Once again, he couldn't quite read the expression on the other's face, and at that moment he hated the stupid tinted glasses for being in the way of seeing how the boy really felt. It would have been easier if he could have actually seen Sollux's eyes better, because eyes are the mirror of the soul – or at least that's what people say. That made Eridan's mind wander, and for a moment he got distracted by the realization that he had never really seen those eyes.

He shook his head slightly, shooing the thought away from his head. This wasn't the time to think about that. Sollux was still looking at him, waiting for him to say something. He didn't even care about the color of his eyes. That was such a stupid thing to think about. Why would he care?

"It's easier said than done", he finally managed to respond and raised an eyebrow, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. "Funny howw you and Fef both just told me to forget about it, like, do you really think I'll just nevver think about it evver again and the twwo a' us can become best fuckin' bros or somethin'?"

Sollux frowned slightly, leaning on his arms, and Eridan saw how his eyes darted to the side before returning back to stare at his face. Eridan turned to look where the other had looked and noticed Aradia walking up to them with a wide smile on her face. Eridan glanced at the door, and it seemed like Feferi had noticed her too, because she was already hurrying towards her through the room, bumping into someone on the way, and stopping for just a moment to apologize before continuing to make her way to the other girl. She managed to get to Aradia before she reached the boys, and Feferi grabbed her arm and swung her around, starting to pull her away. Aradia looked confused and tried to pull her hand from Feferi's grasp, but Feferi leaned closer to her to say something, at which Aradia nodded and followed her after glancing at the boys, the smile gone from her face. All of this happened in less than twenty seconds.

Eridan turned back to Sollux with his eyebrows raised. Sollux looked just as perplexed as he felt, before his expression turned back to the earlier frown.

"What wath that about?" he asked, leaning back and crossing his arms.

Eridan shrugged, shooting a glare at Feferi's back. "I don't knoww, looks like Fef wwants to givve us some privvacy", he said and snorted, rolling his eyes.

"I gueth, but why ith it tho important that thhe had to drag AA away tho…roughly?" Sollux asked, his frown deepening. He leaned back again and let his eyes follow the girls that were soon out of the cafeteria. For a moment another stupid thought popped up in Eridan's head, and he considered asking Sollux if he was still dating Aradia, before he realized how weird that question would be, coming out of nowhere. That wasn't even something he needed to know, he was only curious. Maybe it would make him feel better if they weren't dating. At least there would be one less thing to envy Sollux for.

Eridan sighed, eyeing the now empty doorway. At least Feferi wasn't observing the two of them anymore, which meant that now was the time Eridan could get up and leave. He sat up straight and grabbed the strap of his bag, and he would have done just that, if Sollux had not stopped him.

"Are you going thomewhere?" he asked, turning back to Eridan and raising an eyebrow. "I don't think were done here yet."

Eridan scoffed and let go of the strap. He placed his hands on the table instead, entwining his fingers and looking at Sollux impatiently.

"Yeah? You don't wwant to havve this convversation any more than I do, so wwhy can't I just go and stop wwastin' our time? Didn't you say you had more important things to do?" he asked, with a hint of urgency in his voice, though he didn't have to go anywhere, but he wanted this to be over already. No friendly bonding was going to happen anyway, since that was what Feferi seemed to wish for.

Sollux shrugged. "Meh, I don't", he replied and there it was again – the small smile at the corners of his lips, almost like a sneer. "I jutht thaid I did becauthe otherwithe we would probably thtill be thitting here with our mouthth thhut. I thought you needed thome encouragement."

Eridan didn't answer and just snorted, crossing his arms again, with his elbows still on the table. Sollux's smile faded again and he ran his fingers through his brown hair, smoothing down the hair that was sticking up at the sides of his head and sighed.

"Anyway, what made you think I wouldn't want to have thith converthation? Maybe I jutht want to teathe you", he said and the smile was back as quickly as it had faded, but this time it was wider.

"A' course you do, but that's not wwhat wwe're here for", Eridan said and frowned. "So if you actually havve somethin' to say, I'd suggest you to spit it out, because I don't."

Sollux rolled his eyes. "Why do you have to be tho damn thtubborn?" he said, but it was more like a statement than a question. "Ath a comment to what you thaid earlier, no, I don't want to be your "betht fucking bro", I jutht want to get along like normal human beingth, ith that too much to athk for?" he continued, cocking an eyebrow.

They both fell silent for a moment as Eridan thought about the suggestion. Even though he hated to admit it, Sollux didn't honestly seem _that_ bad, but he hadn't seemed bad the first time they had met. He had been wrong back then, and he could be wrong again. He didn't really trust the other boy, and he definitely didn't want to be his friend, not yet at least. But Sollux had seemed to be genuinely sorry, and getting somewhat along would be nice. It didn't necessarily mean talking to him or anything like that; it just meant there would be no more fights. Sollux would leave him alone and he would do the same. And that was something he could absolutely deal with.

Eridan looked at Sollux for a moment, pondering what would happen if he complied, or how Sollux would take it, but he didn't have much time to think about it, because Sollux was tilting his head and raising his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

Eridan cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh, fine – no more fightin'", he said, but his voice rose slightly towards the end of the sentence, making it sound like a question.

A small smile tugged at the corners of Sollux's lips again as he leaned back, looking satisfied.

"No more fighting", he confirmed.


End file.
